LyrArc Article Gist
AT&T had 4.3 million iPhone activations in the first quarter of 2012, down 43% from the prior quarter. Of the most valuable subscribers who signed up for 2 years AT&T showed 187,000 additions. All but 7000 of these were in tablets. . This indicates that the smartphone market in the U.S. is being saturated. AT&T used the iPhone introduction in 2007 as a way to take subscribers from Verizon and Sprint. That advantage is now fading.

LyrArc Article Gist
Wang Lequan, who is the party leader for Xinjiang, is aprotege of Chinese President Hu . He was pulled into the party from Hu's days in the Chinese Communist Youth League. He is from Shadong province China's industrial and petroleum capital. Because of his familiarity with the oil industry Wang may have beeen transferred to Xinjiang province. He arrived in Xinjiang just as the Soviet Union was dissolving, and the central Asian administrative regions that were formed inside the Soviet Union were becoming independent countries. China's army had occupied Xinjiang in 1949 under Mao. Millions of Chinese were leaving the Xinjiang area and the thinking was that the Uighur Muslims of Xinjiang would also form their own country. What happened was that Wang reestablished the Chinese presence in Xinjiang province. He opened the Xinjiang region's oil and gas fields to drilling, laid pipelines east to China and west to Kazakhstan. A Production and Construction Corps was formed so that Chinese soldiers leaving the army service could find work, and this was later listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. With growing industry and government jobs, many Chinese were attracted back to Xinjiang. In the 1990's 2 million Chinese went back to Xinjiang. At the same time his policies may have had the effect of making the local Uighur people feel that their culture and language weere being threatened and they needed to fight for its survival. Wang acting with dictatorial powers tightly constrained Uighur culture and religion. He substituted Mandarin for Uighur in primary schools, saying minority languages were "out of step with the 21st century," and banned or restricted Islamic practices among government workers, including the wearing of beards and head scarves and religious practice like fasting and praying while at work. He has been Communist party leader in Xinjiang for 15 years, which is unusually long, such jobs usually only lasting 10 years. SInce 9/11 Wang has fought hard to limit the influence of separatism, and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, an Uighur group, and he has swept up thousands of Uighurs accused of terrorism or religious extremism. He worked to have the East Tukestan group listed as Al Quaeda allies by the Bush administration in 2002. He is closely allied to President Hu who supported Wang, giving him a seat on the Politburo. Wang's protege in Xinjiang has been placed in charge in Tibet. There is a sense with Wang and Hu, that a failure now in Xinjiang and in Tibet to control unrest would lead others in the Chinese leadership who think differently on theses issues to bring a different leadership to succeed them. The difficulty here is that the Han who now comprise 40% of the population in Xinjiang, and are heavily involved in the oil and gas industry, have brough a modernizing influence to Xinjiang but may not be received by the Uighurs as apositive influence. First any government that is in power for as long as 15-20 years tends to lose support over time. This happened with the Congress in Kashmir. Too powerful or corrupt, and lose touch with the young people. But compared to India the democratic ways of that country have helped it recognize the need for respecting the language, religion and culture of the people of each region. The British did the same, so it was something that went back to British times. With the monopoly of power of the Communist party, lack of precedent and amodel to follow that respected different culture and languages, the intolerance of Uighur and Tibetan language, religion and culture, creates a different situation in China. Elections were held in Kashmir recently and an effort is being made for reconciliation with different groups, the media is open and different voices are heard. No such prospect remains for Tibet and Xinjiang. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The views being currently argued in meetings with the President about the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Vice President Biden's view: Completely change the goal and strategy. Scale down the military presence. Change the goal from protecting the people from the Taliban- and note that reports on the ground suggest that the people are indifferent and see the Americans and the Taliban as equally bad, with the Americans as foreigners far worse, see Doris Kearns others- to accelerated training of the Afghan forces to fight the Taliban. The focus of US interests would shift to Pakistan. Biden points to the disparity for every $1 spent in Pakistan $30 goes to Afghanistan, and the US real interests lie in Pakistan, not Afghanistan. The US would work with Pakistan to take out Al Quaeda in the border regions. And the proof is that this is working, as Al Quaeda figures have been taken out with Pakistan's help. Counterinsurgency would be replaced by counter terrorism so the US doesn't get bogged down in support of a failing government. The fraud in the recent elections and increasing isolation and loss of support for the Karzai government, supported by unofficial evidence from the ground, make this a serious option, especially as President Obama knows the Karzai government does not merit support and presents a losing proposition. The second view is that of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton- Ike Shelton of Missouri on the Armed Services Committee and Leslie Gelb (see links) share this view- who said in an interview on PBS, "Well Al Quaeda's no longer in Afghanistan. If Afghanistan were taken over by the Taliban, I can't tell you how fast Al Quaeda would be back in Afghanistan." The problem with this view is that the US has only a limited presence in a large mountainous country with the difficult terrain that Afghanistan has, and its not American ground troops that have done the damage in taking out Al Quaeda, its mostly high tech drones. WIth a wider engagement and expanded US ground troops in support of a failing government, that is alleged to have corrupt and narcoltics connections, the popular support would dwindle to the point that the extra troops would not be seen as protecting the population- because how do you protect a people who simply don't care or are suspicious of you? The solution requires some sort of settlement with the Taliban, which guarantees that it not serve as a haven for Al Quaeda. Progress with schools and modernization would have to be, at least in the short run, be given upon the basis of the U.S. coming to terms with what it can and cannot accomplish at an acceptable cost, and the idea of vital interests not lying in Afghanistan but Pakistan. The missing elements in this puzzle would help this strategy, bringing together key countries in South Asia, India and Pakistan, to assume greater joint responsibilities and abandon the entire postindependence. approach to relations. The third view is that presented by Bruce Reidel, who led the Obama administration's strategy review of Afghaistan and Pakistan earlier this year, and is based on pragmatic considerations and the unofficial information on the ground. Reidel puts it this way: "A counterinsurgency can only work if you have a credible and legitimate Afghan partner, and thats in doubt now." And he goes on to say "part of the reason you are seeing a hesitancy to jump deeper into the pool is that thay are looking to see if they can make lemonade out of the lemons we got from the Afghan election." For a complete change in policy and focus Obama would have to admit that he now has different information, and he is willing to admit to have misread the situation during the first 6 months and during the campaign. That is a test of leadership, being able to change after looking at the reality of the situation and digesting it fully. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The Adventures of Amir Hamza is a story much like the Odyssey but set in the Persian, Central Asia Islamic world. It was born as far back as the 9th century. It has a South Asian version since the epic is retold in different settings and has a oral tradition of being recited by dastangos who used to recite these myths and legends . Amir Hamza is supposedly the uncle of the prophet Mohammed. Its South Asian version is in the Hamzanama that was commisssioned with painted manuscripts by the Mughal emperor Akbar. It has 1400 illustrations and formed the basis of Mughal art which was a fusion of the artistic worlds of Hindu India and Islamic Persia and Central Asia. In those times the Persian speaking world extended from Tabriz to Hyderabad in south of India and the Hamza Adventures were told around campfires and in the outdoors. The Hamzanama paintings commissioned by Akbar were shown at the Sackler Gallery around the time of the Iraq invasion in the summer of 2002 and show a world long forgotten. The Saudi type of Wahhabi Islam and religious zealotry is a far cry from this more open world of art and legend and life in central, south and western Asia, of commerce, trade and ways of life intermingled and flow of people across a large region in Asia. What it may suggest is that the current wave of religious zealotry is a kind of phase that like a passing wind comes and then is dispersed, maybe its a reaction to western interventions, maybe a failed response of tradition with modernization, maybe something else, a clinging to old outmoded patterns in areas that are most left behind by change, with ethnic and other strife mixed in with it. No single or simple response to it makes sense and a lot of patience is needed. Conflict of civilizations talk and the like may simply be overdone and way oversimplified things....

LyrArc Article Gist
As Obama faces the situation FDR faced, between political popularity after election in 1932, and loss of some political capital in the first year by 1933, and a lot depends on political will and courage. He has to execute and implement plans for efficient government spending that builds jobs to replace those lost, and to use the investments in really productive ways including projects that provide returns for years into the future. As David Axelrod points out in the Frank Rich column in the NYT, people sometimes live in a parallel universe, which may be completely at odds with what the rest of the country caught in the economic currents of layoffs and collapsing businesses is thinking.

LyrArc Article Gist
Cerberus Capital will lose its entire stake under the plan announced by the Obama administration. And Fiat will be limited to a 20% stake in Chrysler, down from an earlier figure of 30%. And Fiat will have to repay the $6 billion loan that the Obama administration is willing to make before in can take astake in Chrysler of above 49%. Obama administration official confirmaed that the Cerberus 80% equity stake no longer holds value and that the firm's ownership would come to an end. Only if Fiat and Chrysler reach an agreement in 30 days will Treasury invest $6 billion in Chrysler. The task force requires Chrysler to eliminate the "vast majority" of roughly $9 billion in outstanding secured debt. Cerberus acquired Chrysler from Daimler AG in august 2007 when US vehicle sales were 16 million a year, and did this by having Chrysler borrow heavilyusing its plants and property as collateral. $10 billion of secured debt was raised, and $2.5 billion was paid down of it. With prices of gasoline hitting $4 things collapsed. Chrysler sales fell 40%, and Chrysler was loaned $4 billion by Treasury. Now Chrysler has 30 days of working capital from Treasury till it reaches an agreement with Fiat, and before the government provides an additional $6 billion if the agreements as required by the Obama task force are reached....

LyrArc Article Gist
In a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted in April 2011, 47% approve of the job Obama has done. 50% of Americans polled disapprove of this job performance, and of this 37% strongly disapprove. When asked about the job Obama has done with the economy, 57% disapprove, with many independents disapproving. A similiar poll conducted in January 2011, shows Obama having a 54% approval rating, which was seven points higher than the current approval rating of 47%.

LyrArc Article Gist
Einsinger points out that Treasury Geithner's performance reflects the mindset of U.S. president Obama, reflected also in Obama's other appointments in his administration which favored one group over another. Change that Obama talked about in the 2008 election campaign that propelled his candidacy, turned out to be more at the margins than change and action that reflected a vision of the priorities for America's middle class and vast majority of average Americans. By leaving homeowners to a wave of foreclosures, the administration weakened a middle class at the lower end already hit by the lower wages from globalization in manufacturing, other changes in the global economy, high levels of student debt of over $1 trillion, and the lasting damage to unemployment from the global financial crisis.

LyrArc Article Gist
Chancellor Merkel of Germany proposed bilateral or trilateral deals between smaller groups of countries as a temporary solution till some agreement can be reached on immigration. She said "The European Council will not yet provide an overall solution to the migration problem." Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic which have opposed a quota system for asylum seekers did not attend.  Austria, Denmark, and Italy with the new government openly opposing immigration, attended the summit. Merkel said  a "lot of goodwill" was created, and leaders agreed that borders need to be better protected to prevent people from entering illegally, and reducing immigration at its source points in Africa. The migration problem has persisted as an issue long after the huge surge in immigration in 2015 has diminished to a trickle, and after chancellor Merkel has accomodated critics with new policies strictly limiting new immigration. New governments in Denmark, Austria and Italy, and the government in Hungary under Viktor Orban, have kept the issue alive by running on anti-immigration platforms. The European summit in 2018 was used by Merkel to reduce disagreement on this issue by allowing different countries to express their views and working in smaller groups for mutual benefit. It also reduces tension inside her CDP-CSU coalition after Bavaria based CSU decided to run in 2018 state elections on a platform calling for securing borders. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
A 2000 square foot space used as a bike shop in San Francisco now rents for $117 per square foot, as Silicon Valley companies look for space in the city. Google and other companies are attracted to the talent pool in the city.

LyrArc Article Gist
Of the $787 billion stimulus program only $46 billion has gone out so far, mostly to help with unemployment checks and for Medicaid, and only $33 million has gone out for transportation projects.

LyrArc Article Gist
The S.E.C. and the Justice Department end two investigations into the actions of Goldman Sachs during the financial crisis.

LyrArc Article Gist
Kristof says social ills- the lack of stable marraiges, drug use, poor day care resources- compound the problems of lack of education beyond high school in America's white underclass. The lack of good manufacturing jobs and lower wages have hit people with only a high school education the hardest. Two decades of decline in good manufacturing jobs with globalization have hit this part of the population in the U.S. hard creating increasing inequality in America. He sounds a Moynihan type call to the plight of America's poorest white communities.

LyrArc Article Gist
Stephanie Pope is good for Boeing and good for America. Pope headed the parts and services business, and is now the CEO of the commercial aircraft unit. With quality defects a major issue for Boeing leading to two CEO's leaving early, the last being Mr Calhoun a finance executive leaving in December 2024, there is strong opinion that an engineer is needed, yet merely an engineer is not enough as Muilenberg an Iowa State engineer stepped down in 2019. Stephanie Pope has an accounting degree from Missouri State, joined McDonnell Douglas in 1994, which merged into Boeing in 1997.  She says "Culture beats strategy. If you have wrong culture you never succeed." and "Out of failure comes success. You can't be afraid of failure." It's rare to hear that. It also tells one that she has the right idea and practices about the process and hard work that gets results. Pros- she loves the company her grandfather was sheet metal inspector for the company, her father electrical mechanic, at McDonnell Douglas based in St. Louis, Missouri.  She has worked 30 years at the company. She aspired to be a teacher- and its good to have humility.  A VP in the parts and services unit describes how she helps out when quality issues come up in a hands on way bringing in engineers and other resources to help. The Chief Engineer says she is comfortable in the technical space.                                                  Cons- She has an accounting background. There is a sense that Boeing wanted to push planes out of he factory floor as fast as possible to meet production targets. Stephanie Pope with her humility, hands on style, her attitude in work with others, treating assembly line workers with dignity, her attention to the culture at Boeing, persistence in the face of failure,  all present a rare opportunity for Boeing and for America to engage in the task of renewal under a new leadership conscious of its responsibilities.        ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Mary Schapiro, head of the U.S. S.E.C., joins Promontory Financial, a consulting firm set up by former Comptroller of the Currency managers to act as a "bank doctor" for banks that expect to face regulatory scrutiny from government regulatory agencies. In one settlement for mortgage debt which banks settled for $9.3 billion, Promontory Financial was paid $2 billion, according to this WSJ report.

LyrArc Article Gist
Scholars and experts on the Middle East have offered their assessment and understanding of the Middle East seen through its long history. This includes Bernard Lewis at Princeton, Ramadan at Oxford, and Efraim Karsh of King's College, London. Karsh's new book "The Tail Wags the Dog," describes the story of British, Russian and American involvement in the Middle East in the 20th century and into the 21st century. Karsh offers a corrective assessment to many myths about the Middle East in 2015 with sectarian and religious conflicts, and historical volaltility- that the events in these countries are dependent on the foreign powers and influences. Karsh shows how the people in the Middle East have influenced their own narrative thorugh passions, conflicts and failure to bring together different opinions and strains of thought for peaceful progress. He sees the surge of Islamist politics in the midst of the Arab Spring as stemming from the way large parts of the population remained unaffected by the changes of twentieth century technological developments and modernization. The religious conflicts of the seventeenth century in Europe that took place just as Europe began to open up to new ideas and influences and the modern period, show how religious conflict can take place for long periods covering a continental region, before it recedes into the background. Ultimately it is the actors in these countries that have to find a way forward without engaging in continuous strife and violence, sectarian conflicts, and pulling together for a consensus around pushing economic development and progress. ...